National

Sept. 16: The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) removed its own president Amanullah Kanrani, and appointed Salahuddin Gandapur as acting president for the remaining tenure.

Sept. 16: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government withdrew its province-wide order instructing female students of secondary and higher secondary government educational institutions to wear the veil.

Sept. 16: Egyptian transport technology start-up Swvl announced to expand into two more cities in Pakistan — Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The international firm operates buses along fixed routes and allows customers to reserve and pay for them using an app.

Sept. 17: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) dismissed a petition filed by PTI lawmakers challenging the appointment of Maryam Nawaz, daughter of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, as vice president of PML-N.

Sept. 17: The British government gave formal approval to share evidence with Pakistan in connection with the Dr Imran Farooq murder case.

Sept. 17: The government approved a plan to form ‘‘media courts’’ for the first time in the country.

Sept. 17: The KP government promulgated an ordinance extending certain powers of the armed forces, which were available in the erstwhile Fata and Pata while acting in aid of civil power, to the entire province.

Sept. 17: Abdullah Nawaz and M. Amaad clinched titles in National Junior Squash Championships (for boys’ under-13 and under-15).

Sept. 18: Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated the Integrated Transit Trade Management System at the Pak-Afghan border. Torkham, located 55km northwest of here, serves as one of the major border crossings with Afghanistan. The new management system has allowed for round-the-clock trade and immigration facilities at the border crossing.

Sept. 18: The government announced its decision to not grant India’s request for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to use Pakistani airspace for his flight to Germany.

Sept. 18: PPP stalwart Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a case related to assets beyond his known sources of income.

Sept. 18: The Supreme Court ordered constitution of a full court consisting of all available judges to hear a set of challenges to the presidential reference against SC judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

Sept. 18: The Peshawar High Court granted bail to MNAs Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar in the Kharqamar incident.

Sept. 18: The government revived a botched Musharraf-era project to improve the performance of the police by appointing four grade 17 officers as in-charges at specific police stations. The chief commissioner’s office has declared the Bhara Kahu, Banigala, Kohsar and Industrial Area police stations to be model subdivisions and separated them from subdivisions in the previous set-up.

Sept. 18: ExxonMobil, the world’s largest publicly traded oil and gas firm, signed an agreement with Universal Gas Distribution Company (UGDC) to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the country’s transport sector.

Sept. 18: The Cabinet Committee on Privatisation approved a hybrid option for the privatisation of RLNG-based 1,223MW Balloki and 1,230MW Haveli Bahadur power plants being managed by the National Power Parks Management Company (NPPMCL).

Sept. 19: Renowned Pakistani teacher Ahmed Saya received Cambridge University’s Dedicated Teacher Awards 2019.

Sept. 19: Acclaimed novelist Kamila Shamsie was announced as this year’s winner of the Nelly Sachs Prize.

Sept. 19: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) reversed the termination of Mushtaq Ahmed Sukhera’s service as Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO).

Sept. 19: The Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) pointed out irregularities of more than Rs15.67 trillion worth of public money by the federal ministries and divisions during the audit year 2018-19.

Sept. 19: Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa launched Supreme Court’s new portal that hosts e-court/video link, a new website as well as a state-of-the-art research centre.

Sept. 19: The Punjab Assembly passed The Punjab Alternate Dispute Resolution Bill 2019.

Sept. 20: Rights activist Gulalai Ismail reached the United States and sought political asylum.

Sept. 20: Pakistan gave go-ahead to five consortia, including ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and Mitsubishi, to progress with their liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal plans.

Sept. 20: Bilal Asim and Haniya Minhas won the boys’ under-16 and girls’ under-14 singles titles, respectively.

Sept. 20: Pakistan and 8 other countries in Central and West Asia signed a 10-point historic declaration with an aim to accelerate cooperation on energy issues with the pledge to overcome the challenges that the member countries are facing in energy sector. CAREC members which signed the declaration are: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Sept. 22: Saeed Ahmed, the chief executive officer of Economic Zones Development and Management Company (EZDMC), tendered resignation.

Sept. 22: Pakistani athletes won the first-ever Khunjerab Highest Altitude Road Marathon.

Sept. 23: The Islamabad High Court imposed ban on judicial officers for using social media accounts and announced to take disciplinary actions against those who were found in violating the orders.

Sept. 24: A 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck southern Mirpur district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

Sept. 24: The President Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), Brig (retd) Muhammad Khalid Sajjad Khokhar appointed former Olympian Shahnaz Sheikh the official spokesperson of PHF.

Sept. 24: Mohammad Siyar from Pak Army clinched the first position trophy whereas Aslam Khan from GB Scouts remained the runner-up in the Highest Altitude Road Khunjerab Marathon 2019.

Sept. 24: The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) approved the confirmation of six Lahore High Court (LHC) judges.

Sept. 25: Moeed Yousuf was appointed the chairperson of the Strategic Policy Planning Cell (SPPC), which functions under the National Security Division.

Sept. 25: Renowned Pakistani mountaineer Mohammad Ali Sadpara along with four Sherpas scaled the 8th highest peak of the world, Manaslu, in Nepal without bottle oxygen.

Sept. 25: Noted filmmaker Asad Faruqi’s ‘Armed with Faith’, a documentary about the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bomb Disposal Unit was honoured with a win at the News and Documentary Emmy Awards.

Sept. 25: The government appointed Dr Nadeemul Haq the Vice Chancellor (VC) Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) for a three-year term.

Sept. 25: The federal government launched two projects on “backyard poultry” and “Conserving Water through Lining of Watercourses” under the Prime Minister’s Agriculture Emergency Programme.

Sept. 26: Pakistan and Russia agreed to not include India in the Parliamentary Forum on Countering Terrorism and Strengthening Connectivity in the wake of the worsening situation in Indian-Occupied Kashmir (IOK).

Sept. 26: Pakistan, Turkey and Malaysia announced setting up a joint English-language channel to confront the challenges posed by Islamophobia.

Sept. 26: A Pakistani engineer Shahid Shoukat won Energy Innovator of the Year Award for the Asia Subcontinent Region.

Sept. 26: Singapore-based firm Trafigura signed an agreement with Universal Gas Distribution Company (UGDC) for utilisation of its surplus capacity at the Pakistan Gas Port Limited (PGPL) terminal for supply of LNG to the transport sector.

Sept. 26: The sanctions committee of the UN Security Council allowed Pakistan to let Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed use his bank account for personal expenses.

Sept. 26: Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) Kamra achieved another milestone by rolling out first indigenously overhauled JF-17 fighting aircraft.

Sept. 26: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (B&MGF) signed an MoU with Pakistan for its Ehsaas initiative on poverty alleviation.

Sept. 26: Senior bureaucrat Rafia Halim was unanimously elected as new president of the Sindh Table Tennis Association (STTA) for a term of four years (2019-2023).

Sept. 26: PCB Blasters beat PCB Challengers to win the National Triangular One-day Women Cricket Championship.

Sept. 27: Renowned artiste and intellectual Zia Mohyeddin was presented with the Pakistan Society’s inaugural Jinnah Medal.

Sept. 27: In his historic address to the United Nations General Assembly, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Pakistan, if pushed into a war with India, will not surrender but will “fight for freedom till death”. In his maiden speech at the UNGA, the premier also warned the world not to push Muslims, particularly Kashmiris, to the wall because when marginalised, people get radicalised.

Sept. 27: The World Bank included Pakistan in a list of ‘Top 20’ reformers in ‘Doing Business 2020’, praising that the country has improved in six areas measured by doing business.

Sept. 27: Pakistan Navy carried out successful live missile firing from surface and air platforms during its operational exercise Ribat-2019.

Sept. 27: Former state minister and PML-N leader, Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan, passed away.

Sept. 27: Former West Pakistan Legislative Assembly Speaker Muhammad Anwar Bhinder passed away. He was 92.

Sept. 27: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi boycotted the speech of his Indian counterpart at the meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) that was held on the sidelines of the 74th session of the UNGA in New York.

Sept. 27: Pakistan’s hydroelectric power production hit a historic high at 5,668 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in August 2019 as the environment-friendly and cheap energy resource made a major contribution to the total energy mix.

Sept. 27: Imran Samad joined the Sindh Bank Limited as its President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Sept. 28: Pakistan was ranked 15th in the most powerful militaries of the world by the Global Firepower’s list of the 2019 World’s Most Powerful Armed Forces, covering more than 50 factors.

Sept. 28: A senior leader of JUI-F Maulana Mohammad Hanif and two others were killed in a bomb attack in Chaman, the border town in Qilla Abdullah district.

Sept. 28: After getting status of an authority, formerly known Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation (FGEHF) appointed its own deputy commissioner for swift acquisition of land which would ultimately speed up its stalled housing projects.

Sept. 29: The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) decided to probe ongoing siege in the Indian-Held Kashmir (IHK) and the dissolution of its legislature, which had been a CPA member.

Sept. 29: Gallup Pakistan issued its report titled “Cultural Heritage and Museum Visits in Pakistan” according to which tourist traffic at cultural sites in Pakistan has seen a massive increase of 317 percent over the past five years with Punjab’s contribution being nearly 95pc.

Sept. 29: Ushna Suhail defeated Sarah Mehboob in the 18th Subh-e-Nau National Ladies Tennis Championship final.

Sept. 30: Steel-cutting ceremony of the first ship of MILGEM Class Corvettes, being constructed for Pakistan Navy, was held at Istanbul Naval Shipyard, Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi jointly cut the metal plate.

Sept. 30: Prime Minister Imran Khan approved a major reshuffle in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reappointing Ambassador Munir Akram as Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations headquarters in New York in place of Dr Maleeha Lodhi.

Sept. 30: The Aviation Division directed 18 international airlines to stop use of plastic cutlery in flights to Pakistan. The airlines are also directed to ensure that the cutlery is packed in paper rather than in plastic or polythene bags.

Sept. 30: Mohsin Sheikhani was elected as Chairman Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD) unanimously for the term of 2019-2020.

Oct. 01: K-Electric signed $50 million loan agreements with Standard Chartered which is supported by GuarantCo to undertake upgradation of power infrastructure including the installation of theft-resistant Aerial Bundled Cable (ABC) as well as smart grid solutions.

Oct. 01: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government declared the earthquake-affected areas of Mirpur and adjoining areas as “calamity hit”.

Oct. 01: The Federal Cabinet approved the much-awaited first-ever e-commerce policy framework.

Oct. 01: Suhail Shahzad, the person involved in the heinous act of rape-cum-murder of four children in Chunian was arrested.

Oct. 02: Pakistan and Australia agreed to extend cooperation in different fields, particularly to improve water resources management including water for hydropower and industry.

Oct. 02: The Board of Directors of the SNGPL assigned the charge of managing director to Amer Tufail, following the retirement of Mahmood Zia.

Oct. 02: Pakistan hosted the United States and Taliban representatives to persuade the two sides to resume their stalled peace talks.

Oct. 02: The Supreme Court asked the four provincial governments to explore the possibility of facilitating visually impaired persons by furnishing replies in Braille format in addition to the normal paperwork.

Oct. 02: Prime Minister Imran Khan telephoned his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina Wajed to enquire about her health, following her eye surgery.

Oct. 03: Pakistan and Taliban called for early resumption of Afghan peace talks as Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi laid emphasis on reduction of hostilities by all parties to the conflict.

Oct. 03: Nida Dar became the first Pakistan woman cricketer to feature in a foreign league after she was selected by Sydney Thunder as their overseas professional player in Australia’s Women’s Big Bash League.

Oct. 03: Renowned religious scholar from Pakistan, Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani was named on top of a list of 500 most influential Muslims in the world. The list was published by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center, an independent research entity affiliated with the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, Jordan.

Oct. 04: The Balochistan government exempted Gwadar Free Zone from provincial taxes for five years and decided to set up special economic zones and new industrial estates in the province.

Oct. 04: China gifted the fishermen from Gwadar fishing equipment and machinery worth $200,000. Engines of fishing boats, small solar systems and latest fishing nets were included in the goods that were handed over by Chinese Consul General in Karachi Wang Yu to the chairman of the Gwadar Fishermen Alliance, Khudadad Wajo.

Oct. 04: The Balochistan governor gave ‘President of Pakistan Ramzan Ali Syed Gold Medal’ to Mayo Hospital Chief Executive Officer Prof Asad Aslam Khan in recognition of his services in the field of ophthalmology.

Oct. 05: The federal cabinet approved legislative changes to address a longstanding issue of tax concessions for Gwadar Port and Gwadar Free Zone, removing a key bottleneck in the way of populating the industrial estate.

Oct. 05: Senior journalist Abul Hasanat passed away.

Oct. 05: Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail was sworn in as the chief justice of the Balochistan High Court (BHC).

Oct. 06: NAB chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal announced that none of the bureau’s officials would call any businessman directly for questioning, and the NAB would not investigate cases of tax evasion and those related to bank default except the cases referred to it by banks.

Oct. 07: Prime Minister Imran Khan reached Beijing on a two-day official visit of China.

Oct. 07: President Dr Arif Alvi promulgated an ordinance to provide for establishment of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority.

Oct. 07: All-rounder Shoaib Malik became the fourth batsman in the world to score 9,000 runs in the T20 format.

Oct. 07: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif filed a review petition against the Supreme Court verdict in the judge’s video scandal case, pleading that it was per incuriam as it was passed without jurisdiction.

Oct. 07: The ADB approved a $200 million loan as additional financing to help support the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).

Oct. 07: The Sindh High Court directed the provincial authorities to establish women rescue police centres in every division of the province and to release the sanctioned amount of Rs145 million for the safe houses for women.

Oct. 08: Jordan’s Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center named Prime Minister Imran Khan as its ‘Man of the Year’ in its recent list of the most persuasive Muslims in the world.

Oct. 08: Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi announced that the government has granted tax exemption to the China Overseas Ports Holding Company (COPHC) for 23 years to facilitate establishment of its industrial units at Gwadar Port.

Oct. 08: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) appointed eminent lawyers Babar Sattar, Khawaja Haris and Ahmer Bilal Soofi as amici curiae for scrutiny of the quota system for induction in the Central Superior Services (CSS).

Oct. 09: Pakistan and China reaffirmed their resolve to “further deepen strategic communication and strengthen all-weather cooperation” aimed at building a community of shared future in the new era, as Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanged views on a wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues during their meeting.

Oct. 09: Three international conservation organisations – International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) – formed a consortium for the monitoring of Prime Minister’s 10 Billion Tsunami Programme being implemented across the country.

Oct. 09: Pakistan and China finalised the multibillion-dollar Main Line-I (ML-I) project of the CPEC.

Oct. 09: Pakistan’s ranking on the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) competitiveness index slipped down three ranks to 110 from 107 in 2018.

Oct. 10: Prime Minister Imran Khan asked for a comprehensive plan within 60 days on revival of 687 sick industrial units, as he was told by his economic team that these could be revived early under the public-private partnership.

Oct. 10: MQM founder Altaf Hussain was formally charged by detectives of the Metropolitan Police’s counterterrorism command with a terror offence after a month-long investigation in an incitement to violence case.

Oct. 10: Former chairman Nadra, Tariq Malik, who is currently serving as chief technical adviser of United Nations Development Programme, was included among 100 Most Influential People in Digital Government for 2019.

Oct. 11: Pakistan Army dismissed three officers of the rank of major from service after being found guilty of misconduct, two of whom would additionally undergo two-year rigorous imprisonment.

Oct. 11: The Supreme Court held that terrorism cases would remain non-compoundable even if the aggrieved parties pardoned the guilt of an offender in other less heinous crime committed simultaneously.

Oct. 11: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a loan agreement with the government for providing $200 million additional financing to support institutional strengthening of Pakistan’s flagship social protection programme.

Oct. 11: The Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board (PCTB) proscribed the textbook of Islamiat for Class-III for reportedly containing objectionable pictures.

Oct. 11: Ufone and Habib Bank signed an agreement through which the latter has extended bilateral trade finance in Chinese yuan (RMB/CNY) for the import of cellular network equipment through Huawei Technologies Ltd.

Oct. 11: Top seed Huzaifa Abdul Rehman pairing with Shoaib Khan easily defeated the South Korean duo of Dong Hwan Kim and Min-Joon Kim in the boys doubles final of the ITA-SNGPL ITF Pakistan World Junior Tennis Championship here at the PTF Complex on Friday.

Oct. 12: Kainat Junaid became the first woman from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to have been selected for fighter pilot training in Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

Oct. 13: Senator Raza Rabbani emerged victorious after India withdrew the candidature of Shashi Tharoor for a slot in the prestigious executive committee of the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU).

Oct. 14: The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) validated around a hundred fatwas, also known as religious edicts, in support of polio vaccination.

Oct. 14: Prince William and his wife Kate arrived in Pakistan to a red carpet welcome.

Oct. 14: British Pakistani businessman and CPIC founding member Zeeshan Shah won “International Entrepreneur of the year 2019” award at the annual Asian Business Awards.

Oct. 14: The Lahore High Court struck down admission regulations-2019 by Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PMDC) and directed the University of Health Sciences (UHS) to make admissions as per previous regulations of 2018.

Oct. 15: Continuing with his endeavour to facilitate rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Prime Minister Imran Khan met Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to encourage a negotiated settlement of disputes with Iran.

Oct. 15: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated that Pakistan’s economy would slow down to 2.4 per cent in 2020 and pick up quickly after that as stabilisation measures bear result.

Oct. 15: Former Karachi police chief Shahid Hayat Khan passed away. He was 54.

Oct. 15: Prince William and Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton met Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Arif Alvi as they officially started the trip assuring the Pakistani leadership of the United Kingdom’s continued support in dealing with the challenges their country faces.

Oct. 15: Pakistan’s Mohammad Inam Butt won the gold medal at the inaugural ANOC World Beach Games in the Qatari capital Doha, defeating Georgia’s Dato Marsagishvili in the 90kg final.